my sanctuary  -   suntori  - my hide out

  永丰咖啡屋  店     for after lunch to late supper

  红茶楼点心              for breakfast to early lunch

at macalister road, penang                u got to go n try it out  !

 

小菜 Side Dishes

23	滷豆干 Simmered Bean Curd	$1.50
24	滷海帶 Simmered Seaweed	$1.50
25	滷豬耳 Simmered Pigs Ear	$1.50
26	滷豬腳 Simmered Pigs Feet	$2.25
27	炸排骨 Fried Pork Chop	$2.50
28	炸雞腿 Fried Chicken Thigh	$2.50
29	五味魷魚 Five Flavored Squid	$3.50
30	滷蛋 Simmered Egg	$0.50

 

點心 Dim Sum / Snacks

43	臭豆腐 Tofu	$3.50
44	肉粽 Meat with Glutinous Rice	$1.95
45	肉丸 Meat Ball	$1.95
46	碗粿 Glutinous Rice in Bowl	$1.75
47	賽門甜不辣 Simon Tempuro	$3.50
48	雞卷 Fried Chicken Egg Roll	$2.75
49	蚵仔煎 Oyster with Egg & Vegetables	$3.70
50	水餃 Dumplings	$3.25

 

    黑椒豬排飯 QQ Black Pepper Pork Chop Rice

 

    排骨飯、麵、米粉
    Pork Chop (Rice, Noodle or Rice Noodle)

 

一男养一猪，特烦它，就想把它给扔了，但是此猪认得回家的路，扔了好多次都没有成功。某日，此人驾车弃猪，当晚打电话给他的妻子问：“猪归否？”其妻曰：“归矣。”男非常气愤，大吼道：“快让它接电话，我迷路了。”

 

 

一农夫请兽医给猪配种，兽医说：需要人工配种。农夫围着猪转了一圈说：行是行，我怕它咬我。

 

猜谜：全世界的猪都死了……打一首歌名！
林忆莲《至少还有你》

 

咖啡店，一个人的咖言啡语

 

小屋

 

               

 

I love my bedroom.  It is my retreat, my refuge, my sanctuary, my boudoir.  I go there to rest, hide, think (yes, I do that), and love.  The room is painted in two seemingly opposing colors: a passionate plum and a warm golden yellow.  At first glance, you would think these two colors would clash and cause chaos, but they don't, they blend together in a strange harmony...much like my personality.  My bed is huge, the mattress comfy with an underlying firmness, and plush softness on top...much like my physical body, haha, the similarities abound!  There's one huge window that allows the sunlight in, in all it's blazing glory, which made me go out and get a set of thick, dark curtains to tame the blinding desert light and heat.  In my room, I also have a huge comfy chair, a tv and various dressers and night tables.  I have everything to sustain me in times of required rest.  I needed that rest two days ago when I came down with, what I think was, food poisoning.  I woke up that morning and knew I wasn't 100%.  My first words to my mother-in-law were, "I'm just not feeling right."  That morning I attempted to go about my normal day, but by early afternoon I knew something was up (literally), and I crawled upstairs to my bedroom.  Feverish, chilly and achy, I fought the queasiness in my stomach by sleeping and watching bad tv.  It brought back memories of being sick when I was pregnant with my daughter:  2 solid months I spent in that bedroom (different bed, back then I had the "Klingon" bed, all solid firmness, no plush) feeling like I had the worse combination of motion sickness and a hangover, wishing I could be put out of my misery, and saying that this kid better be worth it (she is :) )  So, whenever I'm sick, angry, tired, or just need some time alone, you'll know where to find me...in my retreat, my refuge, my sanctuary, my boudoir...my bedroom.

In music, the term is crescendo. A gradual increase in volume, building up to a moment of note. The term crescendo is not only for music, though. It can be defined as a steady increase of intensity or force in other areas as well.

Before the final outpouring of God's wrath -- the seven bowls -- there has been a gradual increase in tension in the Book of Revelation.  Warnings about how everything will be speeding to the end.  The harvest of souls.  Hearing about the Mark and the Beast.  So many events passed before John's eyes in this vision! 

I wonder if this time before the bowls is a time where people who inhabit the earth will have the opportunity to accept Christ's salvation. The people will be hardened, worn, weary, bitter... Yet still, I believe the love of God will call to them even then.

The intensity builds, crescendoing for one more chapter before the final wrath of God is poured upon the earth. 

Revelation 15 (HCSB)

1 Then I saw another great and awesome sign in heaven: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for with them, God's wrath will be completed. 2 I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory from the beast, his image, and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God. 3 They sang the song of God's servant Moses, and the song of the Lamb: Great and awesome are Your works, Lord God, the Almighty; righteous and true are Your ways, King of the Nations. 4 Who will not fear, Lord, and glorify Your name? Because You alone are holy, because all the nations will come and worship before You, because Your righteous acts have been revealed.

5 After this I looked, and the heavenly sanctuary--the tabernacle of testimony--was opened. 6 Out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean, bright linen, with gold sashes wrapped around their chests. 7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 Then the sanctuary was filled with smoke from God's glory and from His power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.

A breathtaking scene, to John.  The seven angels with the seven last plagues make their appearance in this chapter.  But before they are revealed, there is still more to see.

Something I find particularly reassuring here is this verse: 

2 I also saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had won the victory from the beast, his image, and the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass with harps from God.

Are these the souls that perished because of the Mark?  If so, they are recompensed for their martyrdom, here.  Here is where we see "harps" in heaven.  But angels are not carrying them; people are.  They are singing the song of Moses. This is the song that was sung by the Israelites when they were delivered from

Egypt during the time of the Exodus.  Here, the people of God are again delivered, through death and into eternal life.

I can imagine the momentary hush as some signal indicates to those in heaven that the doors to the Sanctuary are about to open. And then they do. And then...out come seven angels, dressed beautifully, belted with gold.  One of the unusual four creatures gives them their bowls of the plagues, and smoke curls in, around, and through the Sanctuary.

The cresendo continues.  The angels pause.  The earth is about to feel the final wrath of God.

Are the people of Earth aware of what is coming to them at this point? Scripture doesn't say. We know that they have, in the course of this book, felt the judgment of God and have hidden, cringed, or called out and acknowledged him.  Perhaps, before the final spilling of the bowls, there is a quietude on the planet.  People trying to decide what to do next. Where to live. What would make them feel better in the midst of the destruction of the planet. Do any secretly call to the living God?

We do not have to wait to call upon him.  We can seek his face now.  It isn't always a warm-cuddly feeling to come face to face with the God of All Creation, but it is so very worthwhile.  Now is the time, you see, to do so.  Now, before the sanctuary closes and the wrath of God pours down upon all men.

From the very first time I heard it, I felt that this song was all about me...

She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult

“They’re called the Blue Mountains, but they’re not really blue, and they’re not actually mountains, so…yeah,” our guide, Luke, said easily. He couldn’t have been more than four or five years older than me, and seemed to fully embody the word “scruffy.” He sported a beard that looked far too patchy to be taken seriously, drove a van that couldn’t be too much younger than me, but his eyes…His eyes spoke of a wildness that wasn’t limited to western New South Wales. As we made the hours-long jaunt toward the Blue Mountains that really weren’t, he told us about his travels around the world, and how he had ended his journey right back where he started, if only for a little while.

The moment I stepped on that dubious van, I knew that this trip would have everything that the previous day didn’t. I traveled with a handful of people rather than a busload, and the trip was structured to interact with nature rather than photograph it. We even ate lunch in a wind cave:

 

A couple of people on the tour eating lunch with Luke, our guide (middle).

Throughout the day, Luke somehow navigated us around the crowds of tourists so that we merely passed by them instead of jostling amongst them. We learned that the Blue Mountains are older than the Grand Canyon, and are blue because of oils released from trees that provide a haze in the air to give the appearance of bluishness, and that they’re a series of plateaus interspersed with valleys rather than actual mountains, but hey, “Blue Mountains” is much easier to say.

 

The weather, where it was perfect the day before, was now temperamental, giving us a few rays of sunshine before turning windy and torrential, and then back again. A few of us wound our way down a narrow, snaking track in one of the more severe downpours, the hardy grass slashing at our faces and arms, umbrellas and rain gear long since useless. We emerged at a lookout point just as the sky cleared, and beheld something totally unexpected:

 

A spectacular double rainbow (look very closely) arching over the valley as the clouds cleared. The rain gone, and the returning flies forgotten for a moment (quite an event in itself, as anyone who has ever been to Australia can tell you), we grinned at each other and lingered on our little precipice a little longer, then made our return, Luke stopping dead every few moments to identify this half-seen bird, listen for that frog. This was the difference in my two trips. From the perspective of the staff, one was a job, and the other was a dream made reality, and it was that passion for one’s work—or lack thereof—that made or broke the entire journey.

Finally, we traveled to our final stop, a remote park that was often frequented by wild kangaroos. While we munched on some snacks that Luke had brought along, our group roamed the park, though it wasn’t long before we spotted our first kangaroos. How close did we get, you ask?

   

Pretty close.

A short while later, we chugged back to Sydney on the Little Van That Could in high spirits, though almost disappointed to leave that sanctuary, home to hundreds of diverse species, some of which are unique to the region. I wished we could have done a bit more hiking, but all in all, the trip was fantastic, and half the price of dolphin watching. Sunset in Sydney seemed somehow more soothing that evening as I made my now-standard rounds of Darling Harbour and Circular Quay. At last, the adventure addict in me had quenched its appetite and bedded down for a few days.

The next two days were a blur. The end of my week suddenly seemed a lot closer after dedicating so much time away from Sydney. I returned to many of the places visited before, including a return trip to Bondi Beach to see the rest of the Sculpture by the Sea exhibit, and to watch some random guy break the world record for the highest bungee jump by leaping out of a helicopter and plunging 300 meters (almost 1000 feet). Then once again my bags were packed, I was hugging my friend goodbye, and I was on an airplane watching Australia dwindle into the distance.